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Dual AZ Model Spitfires, Denmark and Norway (The Spitfire A-Go-Go Lives Again!)


John Masters

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My bench is clear and I am very excited to build these two very interesting post-war Spitfires, one from Denmark (1950s) and the other from Norway in 1946.  The Norwegian will be a Mk.IXe and the Danish bird will be a Mk.IX bubble top.  Both are AZ Model kits and although many people have had issues with these kits I have built quite a few and have found the experience quite enjoyable.  Their detail is good, their fit is very workable and, in the end, one ends up with a very good facsimile of the aircraft.  I mean, it's not Eduard, but what is?  

Here are the required opening shots...

 

Norway...

 

49538853616_82ee70b895_c_d.jpg

 

49538359793_d115efa055_c_d.jpg

 

Denmark...

 

49539082242_efa48709d6_c_d.jpg

 

49538359583_8e44694e9d_c_d.jpg

 

And that's it.  I hope to start in tomorrow morning but it is only 19:40 on a Saturday night, the wind's howling and the rain is coming down and there isn't much else to do...Hmmm...

 

I also have a KP Mig-21bis from Finland waiting in the Nissen hut...dare I?  Ohhhh boy...🤪

 

--John

 

 

 

 

 

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6 hours ago, Col. said:

a cracking couple of examples

I agree Col.  They will be welcome additions to the Spitfire shelf.

 

1 hour ago, Grandboof said:

if you added the Mig a certain someone would be pleased 

I might do that...who is that certain someone?  If I have three kits on the bench at once, that will be work keeping the parts separate...Migfire? 😁

 

 

 

 

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A little primer in the morning!  I am using some Humbrol rattle can Light Olive for the primer on the Spitfire interiors.  That way I save Grey Primer, use up the older paint and I don't have to wind up the old airbrush.  

 

Norway...note that I have marked the sprue..'N'...

 

49541614982_ce24291c5f_c_d.jpg

 

and 'D' for Denmark...I have removed the parts I won't be using for this build and put them aside in a bag.

 

49541392821_1c172c12a8_c_d.jpg

 

 

OK.  I'll jump into these this afternoon.  

 

--John

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Okey-dokey...

 

I had to trim this bit off of the back of the IXc and add the headrest to make the Norwegian IXe...

 

49543739256_f2bc1e9522_c_d.jpg

 

The two cockpit components are, for the most part, identical except for the frame behind the seat.  I will add some masking tape for seat harnesses.

 

49544001837_efea1d8b06_c_d.jpg

 

Once the cockpit components are assembled, I can let them dry.  A brief test fit of each to the fuselage halves looked good.  I have painted the fuselage interiors and attached the O2 tanks.  Almost none of this will be visible when I close up the fuselage.  I have added pieces of plastic card to cover the exhaust ports.  This allows me to attach the exhausts after the fact and not have them fall inside the fuselage.

 

49543776316_615f5246ca_c_d.jpg

 

--John

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ok I did reply to this thread a couple of days ago but the hamster that's turns the wheel that drives the thingy must have broken down and it didn't post! :doh:

 

So here it is again for your reading pleasure...

 

welcome along again John, you do seem to have caught that very contagious Nordic bug!

 

Both are really nice choices, I like the schemes, thou the bubble top is the prettier of the two.

 

Good luck with these build, I know you're going to produce a couple of lovelies for the gallery.

 

Right now that's out of the way, nice start to the builds.

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9 hours ago, trickyrich said:

Right now that's out of the way

Thanks Rich ! 😁  I do seem to have an affinity for the Scandinavian peninsula.  Perhaps in a former life.

 

The Spits are coming along.  I have assembled and closed up the fuselage halves on both kits.  No issues.  Easy fit, no glaringly large gaps-yet!

 

49546853107_7e3ed0557e_c_d.jpg

 

And as of this morning, clamps off...

 

49546853072_8066bf4d33_c_d.jpg

 

Wings tonight!

 

--John

 

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11 hours ago, Col. said:

Tidy progress x2 John :) 

Thanks Col.  

 

22 hours ago, Courageous said:

Flying along there

Siga, siga...thanks!

 

Here is something odd.  I am not sure what these gunport represent on the Norwegian IXe, but I followed the directions. 

 

49548763951_2e2271fea2_c_d.jpg

 

 

below is a tale of two wings...

 

Part one...putting them together.  No worries there.  Clean and neat.  I have removed the butt end of the Norwegian set so I can add the wing tips.

 

49548264068_7678161daf_c_d.jpg

 

Wingtips on...they will require some cleaning up and touch of filler.  I first used CA and then filled the cracks with thin cement.

 

49548991207_72e2f7bae3_c_d.jpg

 

And now with all the bubbles, burps and bangers...

 

49548764211_906539267d_c_d.jpg

 

A quick test fit this morning showed the usual wing-root gaps I have experienced with these kits but otherwise good fits.

 

--John

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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28 minutes ago, John D.C. Masters said:

Here is something odd.  I am not sure what these gunport represent on the Norwegian IXe, but I followed the directions. 

 

49548763951_2e2271fea2_c_d.jpg

If you mean the bit AZ tell you to drill out, it's to represent the .50 that the 'e' wing had in the on-board cannon bay.

If not, then I'm stumped.

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Did this last night...air scoops...

 

49555192578_69d16691b5_c_d.jpg

 

And the rudders...

 

49555927732_51b1a11d39_c_d.jpg

 

That's it until the weekend when I return--Saturday night, Sunday day...something along those lines.  Meanwhile I will stop by the LMS in Athens and try not to buy anything. Actually, I need a new hose for the airbrush.  Maybe.  Gaffer tape seemed to do the trick.  

 

--John

 

 

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Those two are quickly becoming Spitfire-shaped :) Might have to treat yourself to something at the Athens LMS after clearing out so much of your stash in recent GBs ;) 

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31 minutes ago, Col. said:

clearing out so much of your stash in recent GBs ;) 

Ohhh....but I currently have a moratorium on new kits.  I have boxes in storage of kits that I am afraid will never be built.  The perils of being somewhat single with no children. Next fall I'll have another giveaway.  It is maddening to receive emails from Hannants...New Arrivals!!!!!!  Makes me want to scream.  

 

This means, of course, that if I see something interesting at the store I might have to pick it up.  My recent 'helicopter fetish' is a dangerous game...

 

Speaking of which...nothing from Iceland in this GB so far, or am I missing something?  Not much to choose from really, unless we include NATO forces based there.  Their Coast Guard has some helicopters...commercial jets...hmmm...

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_Coast_Guard

 

 

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Hi John,

 

As I recall the "e" wing had the cannon in the "other" bay compared to the layout on the "c" wing so maybe that is what they are trying to tell you? The standard "c" wing had spaces for up to 2 cannon and 4x.303 mg, with the cannon being in the inner of the 2 bays on a normal Mk IX (same layout as the "b" wing), the outer bay blanked off with a quite long stub, and the 2 mg fitted outboard on each wing. On the "e" wing the armament was just 1 20mm cannon and 1 0.5" mg per wing, and the cannon went in the outer of the 2 bays with the 50cal in the inner with its muzzle protruding through a short sleeve I think and the ports for the 2x.303 blanked off AFAIK. The bigger blisters should be over the cannon and the smaller one should presumably be over the 50cal. As to the bulge over the wheel well this has been subject of great debate. The size of the wheels and tyres progressively increased throughout the life of the Spit, but I have read somewhere that the Mk IX would not have needed a bulge, until it was retro-fitted with the larger wheels/tyres after the war. As the preserved ones are in post war state it has apparently confused kit manufacturers for years. You will find lots of correspondence on this subject elsewhere on BM. I would expect your 1950 machine to have bulges over the wheels but I am not sure about the 1946 one.

 

Getting back to the guns, I would say if your clipped one is the "e" it is correct but that if the other is meant to be a  "c" it may be wrong.

 

Sorry

 

Pete

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3 minutes ago, PeterB said:

Getting back to the guns, I would say if your clipped one is the "e" it is correct but that if the other is meant to be a  "c" it may be wrong.

 

Sorry

Don't apologize!  I'm not about to go back and refit these things.  The clipped is a Danish LF IX--that's all it says--and the Norwegian is an 'e'.  

 

To quote Terry Gilliam, "It's only a model..."😉

 

 

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Fair enough John, 

 

As I have said in a previous thread or two, there is virtually no such thing as totally 100% guaranteed correct info as sources are sometimes wrong, and planes get changed/rebuilt over time. As somebody else said, you can only be certain if you have either a good pic of a particular machine, or better still seen the ruddy thing yourself. The designation HF and LF were used in a confusing fashion - many assume it is to do with the wings and are partly correct, but it is also to do with the engine - RR made high and low altitude versions with changes to the supercharging so LF Spits could have normal or clipped wings and HF could have normal of extended ones. I had assumed the clipped wing was for an LF version, and most "e" wings were for LF machines, but by no means all - I was probably wrong, not for the first time.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

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1 hour ago, PeterB said:

there is virtually no such thing as totally 100% guaranteed correct info as sources are sometimes wrong, and planes get changed/rebuilt over time. As somebody else said, you can only be certain if you have either a good pic of a particular machine, or better still seen the ruddy thing yourself.

Right!  If I start down those paths I will never build anything.  I have seen threads like that, spiralling into the minutiae.  It is not place I want to go.  Thank you for the information Peter!

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Hi John,

 

Personally I am  great believer in the 80-20 rule. If you can get it 80% right with 20% of the work, is it really worth spending a huge amount of time trying to be perfect? I think not so none of my builds have been or ever will be perfect. As you say  - it is meant to be fun!.

 

Enjoy yourself - I certainly like your builds, and no criticism was intended, just me having one of my senile rambling sessions.

 

Pete

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12 hours ago, John D.C. Masters said:

Ohhh....but I currently have a moratorium on new kits.  I have boxes in storage of kits that I am afraid will never be built.  The perils of being somewhat single with no children. Next fall I'll have another giveaway.  It is maddening to receive emails from Hannants...New Arrivals!!!!!!  Makes me want to scream.  

 

This means, of course, that if I see something interesting at the store I might have to pick it up.  My recent 'helicopter fetish' is a dangerous game...

That's a fair point and something I've been trying to do myself. Far too many kits and no modelling time lately so trying not to add any more to the stash... yet there's so many new kits on the go I'd love to own and hopefully get a chance to work on some day.

 

12 hours ago, John D.C. Masters said:

Speaking of which...nothing from Iceland in this GB so far, or am I missing something?  Not much to choose from really, unless we include NATO forces based there.  Their Coast Guard has some helicopters...commercial jets...hmmm...

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_Coast_Guard

There is a few countries still not represented yet and remember it doesn't have to be an aircraft ;) 

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